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Friday, June 24, 2011

Kenneth Del Vecchio, a Republican candidate for New Jersey state Senate and a producer of conservative-themed films, is premiering a psychological thriller this weekend with a pro-life twist: Three pregnant women, who intend to have abortions, are kidnapped and forced to carry their pregnancies to term.

The movie, called "The Life Zone," was produced by Del Vecchio's "Justice For All Productions," and is premiering Saturday at the Hoboken Film Festival in Teaneck, N.J. A press release describes the festival as "one of the nation's largest film festivals, which Del Vecchio founded and chairs."

The controversial premise of THE LIFE ZONE: three women have been kidnapped from abortion clinics and are being held for seven months--until they all give birth. The film, which appears to cut right down the middle, examining the topic from both sides, offers a powerful, anti-abortion climactic twist.

The press release also invites pro-lifers specifically to come check out this "historic event."

In the spirit of right-wing genre films, the preview is rather hokey, opening with an old man in the shadows saying in a scary, scratchy voice: "You have all committed a terrible sin." He later tells the three kidnapped women via video conference ('cause what's scarier than that?): "I am your jailer."

It may seem a tad ill-advised to make a pro-life movie where the heroes are creepy kidnappers, but "The Life Zone" preview attempts to counter this with some dialogue gems like: "You were all on the operating table, all ready to commit murder ... Your babies will be given life just as God planned."

As TPM reported, Del Vecchio resigned from his municipal court judgeship position last year after the state Supreme Court advised him not to promote one of his movies, called "O.B.A.M. Nude." The movie was a thinly veiled satire of President Obama's rise to the presidency, which Rachel Slajda described as follows: "A movie about a coke-addled college student who sells his soul to the devil in order to impose his socialist will on the country. Satan starts him out by hooking him up with the 'Righteous Reverend,' a 'close friend' of the devil's."

Del Vecchio gave up his judgeship to pursue his film career after the court told him promoting the movie would be improper. In his canon are movies with titles like "An Affirmative Act" and "The Great Fight."